Vital Speeches of the Day REG. U. 5, PAT. OFF, VOL. XXXIX MAY 15, 1973 NO. 15 THE INTEGRITY OF THE WHITEHOUSE By RICHARD M. NIXON, President of she United States Broadcast from Washington, D. C., April 30, 1973 OOD EVENING. 1 want to talk 10 you tonight Gait American, In recent months members of my Administra tion and officials ofthe Committe forthe Re-lection ofthe Pres dent — including some of my closest friends and most usted aides — have been charged with involvement in what has come to be known as the Watergate aff. ‘These include charges of illegal activity during and preceding the 1972 Presidential election and charges that responsible officials pa ticipated in effors to cover up that illegal activity ‘The inevitable result of these charges has been to raise serious ‘questions about the integrity of the White House itself. Tonight I wish to address those questions Last June 17 while I was in Florida eying to get a few days’ rest ater my vist to Moscow, I fist learned from news reports of the ‘Weatergate break-in. 1 was appalled at this senseless, illegal action, and 1 was shocked to learn that employes of the re-election com: mice were apparently among those guilty. I immediately ordered an investigation by appropriate Government authorities. On Sept. 15, as you will recall, indictments were brought ageinst seven defendants in the case ‘As the investigation weae forward, I repeatedly asked those con- ducting the investigation whether there was any reason to believe that members of ry Administration were in any way involved. 1 received repeated assurances that there were not. Because of these ‘continuing reasurances, because I belived the reports was getting, because Thad faith inthe persons from whom I was getting them, 1 discounted the stories in the press that appeared 10 implicate members of my Administration or other officials of the campaign committe. ‘Until March of this year, I remained convinced that the denials were true and that the charges of involvement by members of the White House staf were false ‘The comments I made during this period, the comments made by amy pres secretary in my behalf, were besed on the information provided to us at he time we made those comments However, new information then came to me which persuaded me that there was a ceal possibilty that some ofthese charges were crue and suggesting further that there had been an effort to conceal the faces both from the public — from you — and from me ‘As a result, on Match 21 1 personally assumed the responsibility for coordinating intensive new inguiries ino the matter and 1 per sonally ordered those conducting the investigations to get all the facts and to eeport them directly to me ight here in this office T again ordered that all persons in the Government or atthe re election committee should cooperate fully with the FBI. che prosecutors and the grand jury 1 also ordered that anyone stho refused to cooperate in telling the truth would be asked 10 resign from Govecnaent service ‘Aad with ground rules adopted that would preserve the basic co: stitutional separation of powers between the Congress and the Presidency, I directed that members of the White House staff should appear and testify voluntarily under oath before the Senate committee which was investigating Watergate 1 was determined chat we should geo the bottom ofthe mater, and thatthe truth should be fully brought out no matter who was in volved. ‘Atte same time, I was determined aot take preciitive action and to avoid if a all posible any action that would appear to eeflect on innocent people 1 wanted to be fair, but I knew that in the final analysis the io tegrity ofthis office — public faith in the integrity ofthis office — ‘would have to take priority over all personal considerations. Today, in one of the most difficult decisions of my Presidency, I accepted the resignations of ewo of my closest asocates in the White House, Bob Haldeman and Joh Ehrlchman,cwo of the finest public sr POLICY OF VITAL SPEECHES exalt, cf Vit abide Nee ap are ping, Vaal Spee wil 'H e palcy of he pubes, cover ot, ew t wt pubis geese i iz i Hi i t ieee a te foie ‘pet of esky at‘chose ‘wha ave afated cep ine i, # tte sche bee ha, the igorany nce, of te soma tnd public inion comune he ex Eel befound asthent Tad coatrsctve ve 2a peine all sence in all, Where i oacenay 2 condense 2 spech for Bete ase of eruuonus tar” it wl be sb Saeed when pelotng Th fe tht is only he ned andunexprgned tench Sr basin on gue nana lee oer hes of pai ‘oder of pale speaking obaiat toe ner iexe honk eal with» ta any serach which fave ‘emuncedy fond ao diveniaed Toe Jiowidar of pabie ‘iy RESTS seth ois ay gue fo gi ea NE"ER fac HRS aa! is, “atl SF yn niebraidene Thoma F Duly i, Seay Test $18.50. sinhe copia 50 cena Back inoc, if aviable, 60 cen» copy. Micon editions 43.0 per volume Sm Eee ee cer een een tte WO a ‘tots of public college and igh schoo eSRICHARD M. NIXON vants it has been my privilege to know. I wane to stress that in ac- cepting these resignations I mean to leave no implication whatever of personal wrongdoing on their part, and I leave no implication tonight of implication on the part of others who have been charged inthis matter. But in matters as sensitive as guarding the integrity of ‘our democratic process, itis essential not only that rigorous egal and ‘ethical standards be observed, but also that the public, you, have total confidence that they are both being observed and enforced by ‘those in authority, and particularly by the President of the United ‘States. They agreed with me that this move was necessary inorder to restore that confidence, because Attorney General. Kleiadiens, though a distinguished public servant, my personal friend for 20 years, with no personal involvement whatever in this matter, has been a close personal and profesional associate of some of those who are involved in this ease, he and I both fle that ie was also necessary to name a new Attorney General The counsel to the President, John Dean, has also resigned. As the new Attorney General, I have today named Elliott Richardson, 2 man of unimpeachable integrity and rigorously high principle. 1 have directed him to do everything necessary to insure that the Department of Justice has the confidence and the trust of every law-abiding person in this country. I have given him absolute authority to make all decisions bearing upon the prosecution of the ‘Watergate case and related matters. I have instructed him that if he should consider it appropriate he has the authority to name a special supervising prosecutor for matters arising out of the case. ‘Whatever may appear to have been the case before, whatever im- proper activities may yet be discovered in connection with this whole sordid affair, 1 want the American people, I want you, to know beyond the shadow of a doubt that during my term as President justice will be pursued furl, fully and impartially, no matter who is involved. This office is a sacred trust, and I am determined to be worthy of that crust! Looking back at the history of this case, ewo questions arse: How could it have happened — who is to blame? Political commentators have correctly observed that during my 27 years in polities, I've always previously insisted on running my own campaigns for office. In both domestic and foreign policy, 1972 was year of crucially {important decisions, of intense negotiations, of vital new directions, particularly in working toward the goal which has been my ‘overriding concern throughout my political career — the goal of bringing peace to America, peace to the world. ‘And that is why I decided asthe 1972 campaign approached that the Presidency should come first and politics second. To the max- imum extent possible, therefore, 1 sought to delegate campaign ‘operations, to remove the day-to-day campaign decisions from the President's office and from the White House. 1 also, a8 you recall, severely limited the number of my own cam- paign appearances ‘Who then is to blame for what happened in this case? For specific criminal actions by specific individuals those who committed those actions must of course bear the lisility and pay the penalty. For the face that alleged improper actions took place within the White House or within my campaign organization, the easiest course would be for me to blame those to whom I delegated the responsibility to tun the campaign. But that would be a cowardly thing to do. 1 will not place the blame on subordinates, on people whose zeal exceeded their judgment and who may have done wrong in a cause 451 they deeply believed to be right. In any organization the man at the top must bear the responsibility. “That responsibility, therefore, belongs here in this office. I accept ‘And I pledge to you tonight from this office that I will do everything in my power ro insure that the guilty are brought to justice and that such abuses are purged from our political processes in the years to come long after I have lef this office. Some people, quite properly appalled atthe abuses that occurred, will say that Watergate demonstrates the bankruptcy of the ‘American political system. I believe precisely the opposite is true. ‘Watergate represented a series of illegal acts and bad judgments by a number of individuals. t was the system that has brought the facts to light and that will bring those guilty to justice. ‘A system that in this case has incloded a determined grand jury, hhonest prosecutors, # courageous judge — John Sirica, and a vigorous free press ‘eis essential that we place our faith in that syste, and especially in the Judicial System. [eis essential that we let the judi ing those safeguards that are establ well as t0 convict the guilty. Tis esental that in reacting to the exceses of others, we not fll into excesses ourselves, cis also essential that we not be so distracted by events such as this that we neglect the vital work before us, before this nation, before America ata time of critical importance to America and the world. Since March, when I first learned that the Watergate affair sight in face be far more serious than I had been led to believe, it has claimed far too much of my time and my attention. Whatever may now transpire in the case, whatever the actions of the grand jury, whatever the outcome of any eventual trials, I must now turn ‘my full intention — and I shall do so — once again co the larger duties of ehis office. Towe ito this rest office that I hold and 1 owe itso you, ty country. know that, as Attorney General, Elliot Richardson will be both faic and he will be fearless in pursuing this case wherever it leeds. I ‘am confident that with him in charge justice will be done. ‘There is vital work to be done toward our goal of a lating struc- ture of peace in the world — work that cannot wait, work that I must do. Tomorrow, for example, Chancellor Brandt of West Germany will vist the White House for talks that are a vital element of the Year of Europe, 2s 1973 has been called ‘We are already preparing for the next Soviet-American summit meeting later this yea. ‘This is also a year in which we are seeking to negotiate a motual and balanced reduction of armed forces in Europe which will reduce cour defense budget and allow us to have funds for other purposes at hhome so desperately needed. cis the year when the United States and Soviet negotiators will seek to work out the second and even more important round of our talks on limiting nuclear arms, and of reducing the danger of a nuclear war that would destroy civilization as we know it. cis a year in which we confront the difficult tasks of maintaining peace in Southeest Asia and in the potentially explosive Middle Eas. ‘There's also vital work to be done right here in America to insure prosperity — and that means 2 good job for everyone who wants ‘work; to control inflation that T know worries every housewife, everyone who tres to balance the family budget in America. To set in motion new and better ways of insuring progress toward a better life forall Americans process go forward, respect- lished to protect the innocent 2s452 ‘When I think of this office of what it means, I think of ll the things that I want to accomplish for this nation, ofall che things I ‘want to accomplish for you ‘On Christmas Eve, during my terrible personal ordeal of the renewed bombing of North Vietnam which, after 12 years of war, finally helped to bring America peace with honor, I sat down just before midnight. 1 wrote out some of my goals for my second term as President. Let me read them to you ‘To make this country be more than ever land of opportunity of equal opportunity, fall opportunity — for every American; to provide jobs forall who can work and generous help for those who Cannot; to establish a climate of decency and civility in which each person respects the feelings and the dignity in the God-given rights of his neighbor; to make this a land in which each person can dare to dream, can live his dreams notin fear but in hope, proud of his ‘community, proud of his country, proud of what America has meant to himself, and to the world These are great goals. I believe we cen, we must work for them, wwe can achieve ther, But we cannot achieve these goals unless we dedicate ourselves to another goal. We must maintain the integrity of the White House ‘And that integrity must be real, not transparent. There can be no whitewash at the White House We must reform our political proces, ridding it not only of the violations ofthe law bot also ofthe ugly mob violence and other in- excusable campaign tactics that have been too often practiced and too readily accepted in the past including those that may have been a response by one-sided co the excesses or expected excesses of the other side. Two wrongs do not make a right. {ve been ia public life for more than a quarter of a century. Like any other calling, politics has good people and bad people and let me tell you the geeat majority in politics, in the Congress, in che Federal Government, in the state government are good people. know that it can be very easy under the intensive pressures of a ‘campaign for even well-intentioned people to fall into shady tactics, to rationalize this on the grounds that wha is at stake is of such im portance to the nation that the end justifies the means VITAL SPEBCHES OF THE DAY ‘And both of our great parties have been guilty of such tactics Ta recent years, however, the campaign excesses that have o¢ curred on all sides have provided a sobering demonstration of how far his false doctrine can take us, ‘The lesson is clear. America in is politcal campaigns must not again fall into the tap of leting the end, however great that end i, justify the means urge the leaders of both politcal paris, I urge citizens — all of you everywhere — to join in working toward a new se of standards, new rules and procedures co insure that future elections will be as neatly free of such abuses as they posiby can be made. This is my goal, I ask you to join in making ie America’s goal ‘When I was inaugurated for a second term this past January 20, 1 gave each member of my Cabinet and each member of my senior ‘White House staff a special four-year calendar with ech day mark ed co show the numberof days remaining to the Administration In the inscription on each calendar I wrote these words The Presidential term which begins today consists of 1.461 days, no more, no less. Each can be a day of strengthening and renewal for America. Each can add depth and dimension to the ‘American experience If we strive together, if we make the most ofthe challenge and the opportunity that these days offer us, ehey can stand out as great days for America and great moments in the history of the woeld ‘looked at my ovin calendar this morning up at Camp David as 1 was working on ths speech. Te showed exactly 1,361 days remaining in my term. 1 wane chese to be the best days in America’s history because | love America. I deeply believe that America is the ope of the world, and I know that in the quality and wisdom of the leadership ‘America gives lis the only hope for millions of people all over the world that they can live ther live in peace and freedom. ‘We must be worthy of that hope in every sense of the word Tonight, I ask for your prayers to help me in everything that I do throughout the days of my Presidency 10 be worthy of thet hopes and of yours God bless America. And God bless each and every one of you U.S. Relations With Eurvepe ‘A NEW PHASE OF DIPLOMACY By HENRY KISSINGER, President Nixon's Assistant for National Security Delivered at a Luncheon of she Associated Press, New York City, April 23, 1973 HIS YEAR HAS been called the Year of Europe, but not because Europe was less important in 1972 or in 1969. The alliance between the United States and Europe has been the cornerstone of all postwar foreign policy. It provided the political framework for American engagements in Europe and marked the definitive end of U.S. isolationism. It insured the sense of security that allowed Europe to recover from the devastation of the war. It reconciled former enemies. It was the stimulus for an unprecedented ‘endeavor in European unity and the principal means to forge the common polices that safeguarded Western security in an era of prolonged tension and confrontation. Our values, our goals and our basic interests are most closely identified with those of Europe. ‘Nineteen seventy-three is the Year of Europe because the era that was shaped by decisions of a generation ago is ending. The success of those policies has produced new realities that require new ap. proaches The revival of Western Europe is an established fact as is the historic success of its movement toward economic unification. The Bast-West strategic military balance has shifted from American preponderance 0 near equality, beinging with it the ‘necessity for a new understanding of the requirements of our com. ‘mon security Other areas of the world have grown in importance. Japan has emerged as a major power center. In many fields “Atlantic solutions to be viable must include Japan. ‘We are in 2 period of relaxation of tensions. But as the rigid divisions of che past two decades diminish, new assertions of national identity and national rivalry emergeCopyright © 2003 EBSCO Publishing